After shooting a 5-under par in the third round at Pebble Beach on Saturday, suddenly Tiger Woods is right back in contention at the U.S. Open. He’ll head into Sunday’s final day in third place on the leaderboard.
From ESPN.com:
After bogeys on the second and third holes, he ran off birdies on the next three and made the turn in even par. Birdies on the 11th and 13th holes got him closer to the conversation, and the final three holes set off a series of cheers that could be heard from all corners of the peninsula.
He rolled in a 12-foot birdie from the 16th, then made the downhill 15-footer from the fringe of the 17th, raising his index finger in the air.
The old Tiger showed up on the 18th hole.
Blocked behind a pair of cypress trees and hitting into an ocean breeze, Woods hit a 3-wood toward the Pacific and urged it on toward the green. “C’mon! C’mon!” he screamed at it, and followed that with a “Yes!” when it stopped in easy two-putt birdie range.
“I was hitting shots like this every now and again,” Woods said. “I would get into two-, three-hole stretches, but I haven’t strung it out for more than that. And today, I did.”
It was certainly vintage Tiger on Saturday, although keep in mind that he has never won any of his 14 majors when he wasn’t at least tied for the lead going into the final round. That said, the power fade from behind the tree on 18 might turn out to be the shot that propels him to a victory this weekend.
Even if he doesn’t come back and win, it was an epic performance by Woods on Saturday.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
